1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exposure apparatus and exposure method to expose a substrate via a liquid, as well as to a device manufacturing method.
2. Description of Related Art
Among exposure systems used in photolithography processes, liquid immersion type exposure systems in which a space of the optical path of the exposure light is filled with a liquid and a substrate is exposed via this liquid, such as for example those disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication Nos. 2004-289126 and 2004-289128, are well known. In addition, multi-stage type exposure systems comprising a plurality of substrate stages to hold substrates, such as those disclosed in Published Japanese Translation No. 2000-511704 of the PCT International Application, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-323404, Published Japanese Translation No. 2001-513267 of the PCT International Application, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-158168, are well known.
In an exposure system used in photolithography processes, when the liquid immersion method is applied, it is required that the substrate be subjected to exposure processing efficiently. Furthermore, in multi-stage type exposure systems, an operation is performed in which a plurality of substrate stages are arranged in succession on an exposure station; and when the liquid exposure method is applied to a multi-stage type exposure system also, it is important that the operation of positioning substrate stages at the exposure station be performed rapidly, and that substrate exposure be performed efficiently.